too far and the car swerved. I grabbed the wheel with both hands. “Okay, spill. Where are we going?”
Cooper faced forward, his smile touching the corners of his eyes.
“Remember where I found you the day Ally disappeared?”
“Yes,” I said.
“Felix told me that you spent your off days there and I thought I’d take you there, to regroup.”
Excitement buzzed through me. I scanned the road, the graveyard not too far ahead of us. I’d no idea I had been this close to it. I looked at Cooper. “Thank you,” I said sincerely and an idea came to mind. “Can we make a stop first?”
“Sure.”
I put the car in drive and pressed the gas a little too hard, lurching forward. I hit the brake and started again by putting light pressure on the pedal.
“There you go,” Cooper coached.
I pulled out of the shoulder, nearly smashing into another car. I braked again.
Cooper stiffened. “Let’s try looking around before driving, okay?”
I clenched my jaw, determined to get us to the cemetery and back in one piece.
I stepped out of the florist shop across the street, hugging several bouquets against my chest. Cooper appeared at my side, holding his arms out.
The paper crinkled against me as I kept walking. “You need to stay invisible.”
He held up a hand, allowing me to continue toward the car.
I needed a break from that machine. “And I think we should walk,” I said. “It’s not that far.” I passed Ally’s car and stood at the edge of the street, looking both ways several times before crossing. Cars wouldn’t pass through me in this form.
Cooper followed closely behind.
Ally’s heart pounded against her chest as I neared the gate to the cemetery.
“Where do you want to go?” I asked Cooper.
“Wherever you want; this is your surprise,” he said. “Who are the flowers for?”
I leaned down and inhaled the scent of the mixed bouquet I’d purchased with Ally’s credit card. I’d find a way to pay her back, somehow.
If you find her.
I squashed the thought. “No one in particular,” I said. “I always come here but I never get to put flowers down.” I tightened my grip on the bouquets. “And there are a lot of lonely stones that could use a little brightening up.”
We walked in silence for a few minutes. A light breeze ruffled Ally’s hair as if invisible fingers raked through it. Her sundress billowed in the wind.
“Does Felix have any leads?” I asked.
“A few,” he said. “David is instrumental in acquiring Intelligence on Shadowed locations. They are checking out all the spots to find her.”
“I still think Krystal had something to do with it,” I admitted.
“I know, and I’m starting to get the same idea, although I’m not sure if they are mine or I am feeling them through you.”
“But, in all seriousness,” I said, “I think she has enough disdain for Ally to do something. I didn’t see anyone there that day to push her.”
“So you didn’t see Krystal push her?” he asked.
I frowned, thinking of Ally’s memory right before I’d woken up in the hospital. She had felt a push. I didn’t know how to bring that up with Cooper. I didn’t want to ruin the surprise he’d planned. “Not exactly. But Krystal has the motivation. Maybe, instead of possessing her, the Shadowed influenced her, just as you said you influenced Ally for good?”
Cooper rubbed a hand over his face. “It’s completely possible but, in the grand scheme of things, if Krystal helped the Shadowed it was against her will and she probably wouldn’t remember why she did it.”
“But if one of them approached her? Maybe she could tell us what he or she looked like and we’d have a better lead.”
A slow smile spread over Cooper’s face. “Quite a detective, aren’t we?”
I smiled, shaking my head. “Ally deserves more than this. I’m just trying to help.”
“I’m impressed,” he said. “Now I’m a little surprised you were passed over for the Guard position.”
I groaned. “And that’s what I told Felix. He says I don’t have the feelings for it, but I think I’ve just been away from humans so long, at least in terms of understanding how they operate.” I lifted Ally’s arms up. “I hate to admit it, but I’ll be upset if we don’t find her.”
“I’ll be upset too,” he admitted.
A pang of jealousy pressed against Ally’s chest.
Of course he’d be upset, my rational side thought. It’s his job to protect her.
But that other side snuck in too. She’s everything anyone would want; he’d always pick her over you.
A blurriness edged my vision and I stopped walking. One of Ally’s memories had emerged before me, then another. A young Ally projected in front of me, almost superimposed over my reality. I followed her path across the graveyard.
“Maggie,” Cooper said, keeping pace with me, “where are you going?”
I ignored him. Ally’s breaths were short and quick as my pace hastened toward my goal. Ally’s body buzzed like the feeling of a True Soul before taking its counterpart.
I quickly veered down a long row of stones; little Ally picked up her pace. I matched her footfalls until we reached our destination. Memory Ally dropped to her knees in front of one of the stones then her form disappeared.
A stone angel loomed over me as I dropped to Ally’s knees, placing the flowers on the ground. I reached for the stone and the inscription with Ally’s fingertips.
“Kimberly Greene,” I read. “Beloved mother and wife.”
“That’s Ally’s mom. She died of cancer when Ally was five,” Cooper said.
Ally barely had a father and no mother. No wonder she partied hard with her friends and demanded the respect of her classmates; she hardly had any attention at home.
“How did you know to come here?” Cooper asked.
I stared at the grave, my body still. “I liked the stone,” I said, standing up. “I’ve always liked this stone.” We both looked up at the hauntingly beautiful angel with her wings outstretched as if she protected the graves under her.
“Something has always bugged me but I never thought to ask,”
